Originally Posted by
Walnut
WW stated one of the reasons he wanted restructuring is to allow him to compete with state funded EU carriers, eg Lufthansa and Air France.
One of the reasons these carriers get support (whether financial, political or whatever) is that they have structured their whole relationship with their governments, and indeed their wider target customer base, to be perceived as a national asset, despite private ownership.
BA have gone the other way, HQ is in Madrid (with a little regional but powerless admin office in Waterside), top execs openly don't give a hoot for the UK government. Now push has suddenly and unexpectedly come to shove and the playing field has changed. But the attitude hasn't.